STEP ONE

"FARM TO FASHION"

In Tuscany, where our Cashmere Goat farm is located, our goats begin to shed their Cashmere fiber around the winter solstice (see our previous post), which means we are now ready to start the 2026 harvest.

Each goat is selected individually,, depending on whether or not they are shedding (some shed earlier in the season and some later, but all of the goats will loose their cashmere undercoat at this time of the year). We capture each goat so they are not running in every direction, and begin to methodically comb out the undercoat, with, yes, a COMB!

We do not SHEAR our goats (some larger herds do), we do not tie their feet together and lie them on the ground (like a lot of Mongolian and Chinese herders do) . We gently comb each goat and collect the fiber in a separate bag for each goat, while preparing a fiber sample to be sent to a fiber lab for analysis.

While we have every goat under control, so to speak, we do what I call an annual check-up and assessment: worming, if necessary, vaccinating, trimming their hooves, removing any long, knotted hair left over after combing, etc. At the end of each day we weigh every goat’s bag, and enter the results into our data base. Once we have combed all of our goats, we also prepare the fiber samples to be sent to the lab, where they will be evaluated under an electron microscope, and on the basis of these results, that individual will or will not be entered into our new Cashmere Goat Registry.

This coming week we will post STEP TWO, and in case you are not already signed up - we offer you a chance to partecipate in this season’s combing!

Would you also like more details about any of the following: why do we comb, and not shear? Why all the detail about fiber testing? What kind of combs do we use? Why do we comb the goat while they are standing up instead of on the ground? Let us know!

Sign up here for GOAT CAMP (March 15 through April 15, 2026):

https://www.chianticashmere.com/en/FARM-EXPERIENCES/GOAT-CAMP/